Challenge answered

A few weeks ago, my father informed me that he was also going to race in 50 states and that he was already ahead of me by one state. He also reminded me that I had never finished a race ahead of him. I told him to bring it on. Today, dad and I went for an "easy" four mile run. We finished the run in 36:06 (9:17, 9:06, 9:06, 8:37). Yeah, he's been running on a regular schedule lately. If he keeps this up, he'll be kicking my behind at the Wisconsin Lighthouse Run.

Tomorrow Beer Geek and I are heading south to do some beer tasting and stay at a B&B. This is a pretty big deal around here, as we don't leave the kids over night very often. I only feel comfortable leaving them with my parents and they don't live close by, so it's an infrequent event at best. We'll be hitting Starr Hill Brewery for a tasting, and then head over to Devil's Backbone for a beer or two. We are then meeting some friends for dinner at Blue Mountain Brewery.

I expect my Sunday planned 6 mile run will be a bit slower than today's run, but on the positive side, my next post will legitimately focus on beer. ;o)

So NOT a streaker

No, not that kind of streaker. That kind of streaking would only take a few beers worth of convincing.*

No, I can not become a runner who streaks, aka runs every day. Today was supposed to be a rest day. I ran the last three days (one of them twice and all of them pretty fast as that's how I tolerate treadmill running). Wednesday is normally a rest day, but I had to run today. It was GORGEOUS outside, plus Beer Geek had a meeting tonight, so if I didn't run during his short time at home, I'd get no break from the kids. And I was at the point that the putting my kids in a crate sounded like a good idea except we only have a cat crate and that would be a really tight fit. (Said cat is named Pete's Wicked Kitty - any guesses where his name came from? *)

Anyways, I ran a measly, heavy legged 3 miles. I'm glad I did it because it really was nice to be outside by myself, but I'll probably regret it tomorrow when I run again. I should rest, but it's supposed to be even nicer tomorrow and I just can't resist a run on a pretty day (just like I can't resist a good beer.)*

*See I can mention beer even when I'm not actually talking about drinking LOL.

7 + 3.5 = (not so) Fat Tuesday

Poor little Shoo was still feeling not so hot this morning. I managed to get some sugary liquids into him and he perked up some, but he decided he wanted a nap (he gave up naps almost a year ago). After he fell asleep, I decided to hit the treadmill. I wasn't expecting much in the way of a run, so I ran fairly fast for the first few miles. I ended up managing 7 miles before he woke up! And the best part was he woke up and asked for food. Woohoo! Unfortunately, since I hadn't planned to run for that long, I was wearing single layer cotton socks, so I rubbed a nice blister on my toe.

When Beer Geek got home, I jumped on the 'mill again and did a 3.5 mile interval workout. I had only planned 3 miles, but since I was running fast, I managed to squeeze an extra half into my work out. I've never run twice in the same day before, so I was quite surprised that I actually felt great for the second run.

After dinner tonight, we headed to the local Mardi Gras parade. Beer Geek has family in Mississippi and Louisiana, so we've been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, as well as to some of the smaller (but still huge by comparison) local parades. This parade? Great, but not large by any means. Prior to Shoo getting sick, we had planned on dinner at one of the many restaurants on the (6 block) parade route, but had to scrap that plan. So, Mardi Gras was a completely beerless event this year for us. Oh well, we'll make up for it this weekend when we hit three breweries/brewpubs. And only in a place like here would a Mardi Gras parade include a local Indian restaurant and a Bolivian dance group. LOL

Fall back week

After last week's 13 mile run, I decided to take it a little easier this week and only do 10 miles on my long run and then do a 14 mile run next week before I do a small taper for the half marathon. As it turns out, my long run this week may be a single digit run.

Shoo is still not up to par. He was doing pretty good most of the day, but lost it again this evening (may have been my fault as I was pushing the liquids pretty hard). Regardless, he's definitely not himself yet, so no preschool tomorrow. Beer Geek was supposed to take the day off and we were going to go buy a new computer and a new tv, but we don't feel like doing that with a sick kid along. So, Beer Geek is going to work and Shoo and I will have another quiet day at home. I may be a little crazy by the end of the day, since I've barely been out of the house since our beer trip on Saturday. Sigh.

At this point, I have my fingers crossed that I can do a long run on Thursday while Shoo plays at a friend's house. Otherwise, it's going to be four mile treadmill runs every night when Beer Geek gets home from work and a long run on Saturday of about 6 miles (both because I don't want to be away from the kids for too long Saturday morning and because I still plan to do 14 miles next Tuesday). And, of course, if any of the rest of us catch the bug, even this plan will get shot to hell.

Carbo loading and unloading

The biggest problem with yesterday's beer-o-rama was the beer munchies that came afterwards. Despite eating a relatively large lunch, I spent the afternoon munching on pretty much everything in sight. I wasn't overly worried about it as I scaled back dinner and figured I'd run it off doing intervals today.

Unfortunately, sometimes being a mom comes first. About 10:30 last night, Shoo unloaded the contents of his stomach. He then continued to wake up every 20 minutes for the entire night until he was completely empty and dry heaving. I had gone to bed literally five minutes before he started getting sick, so I got zero sleep last night. He dozed off between each attack, but I lay awake and wondered when the next one would be. He had a rough day today, much of which he spent in my arms. Thankfully, he seems to be starting to improve now.

I did get a short run in on the treadmill - 3.5 miles at a 9:30 pace. I would have liked to continue, but Beer Geek needed to pick up Jones from his friend's house and Shoo needed my company. Not a lot got accomplished around here today (except way too many loads of laundry), so hopefully we'll be back to normal tomorrow rather than having the next person sick...

Taking one for the team

As I mentioned yesterday, today we headed down to Fredericksburg to visit the Blue and Gray brewery. It's only about an hour away and traffic was kind to us on the way down, so we got there bright and early. A kindly gentleman gave us some tastes of their yummy beer and then took us on a tour of the very small brewery.

Here I am with the Brew Kettle.


Towards the end of the tour, we got to taste the lager, the pale ale and the stout from the actual beer tanks. All very good, but not yet carbonated and ready for kegging. Then we got to taste their special version of the stout - after coming out of the tanks, it was aged in bourbon barrels that were used to make Virginia Gentleman. OMG! I could have sat there all day and drunk that. Unfortunately, they no longer had the special stout for purchase, so we ended up buying a lager (for the beer basket I'm creating) and two bottles of their regular stout for us.

The tour guide pointed us in the direction of Capital Ale House for lunch. Oh.My.Goodness! We have access to the Brickskeller here, but this was just amazing. The number of good beers on tap was phenomenol. Beer Geek offered to drive home, so I had a Left Hand Smokejumper with my lunch. With 10ish % alcohol, driving would not be an option for me. Our waiter quickly figured out our weak points and convinced us to try another beer as well. Because Beer Geek was driving, we agreed I'd drink most of the second beer. Here I am about halfway through that 10.5% alcohol beer.

It was Jefferson's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout from Bluegrass Brewing. YUMMY beer with an aftertaste like the cookie part of an oreo cookie. We definitely want to hit this restaurant again. Fredericksburg is the location of one of the half marathons I'm signed up for. If I can't get rid of my bib, we may make a weekend of it and just assume I'll be running the half a bit hung over.

The drive home was less than fun, with stop and go traffic most of the way. Gotta love I-95. Even better was the ridiculous directions our new Nuvi gave us. Beer Geek's alternative nickname is Map Boy, so being told to go completely out of our way to get somewhere did not go over well with him. At one point, Nuvi was yelling "recalculating, recalculating, recalculating" at him. I think we may need to take her behind the barn and beat some sense into her.

I had a short easy run penciled in for the day, but I think a short easy nap is more likely. Not sure that Jones and Shoo will agree to that though, sigh.

I got nothin'

It's been a quiet week in our household, so not much to talk about. Therefore, I'll borrow from another blogger and give you guys a little "back talk".

RE: Baby Steps

Now, don't go thinking I'm getting the kind of results one might see from a major time commitment to weight lifting. I'm not. But I am definitely looking more toned and I feel stronger and I can do more reps and heavier weights than I could in January, so something is definitely happening.

RunnerMom, I do squats and lunges while holding a 15 pound weight bar (or a 30 pound child). I also do walking lunges and one legged squats sometimes. For variety, I also do various yoga poses and leg lifts. I do make sure that my lower body workouts do not come the day before a long run or a speed workout.

Jennifer, you'll definitely be looking amazing much faster with the P90X. I'd love to find time to do something like that, but it's just not happening right now.

RE: Beer Collection

That was just the super special stuff. There's currently about a case of microbrews in the fridge for current consumption. We don't just collect, we drink too!

Johnny Vu - welcome! It's nice to get a little testosterone around the place.

Lisa - I have a wine collection too. It's just not as exciting (or as large), but I love a good red wine.

Glaven - next time clean up after yourself, ok? And I'm not a tease - I share (my beer anyways...)


Sorry this post is not Jess worthy. I've only had one beer tonight (Samuel Adams Cream Stout for those who care). Tomorrow morning we'll head to Fredericksburg for a tour of the Blue and Gray brewery along with some tastings of their beer.

Oh and since this is a running blog (LOL), I ran an easy treadmill run yesterday and another today for a total of 6.75 miles. It's not terribly cold here right now, but the wind is way stronger than I'm willing to deal with. Hopefully the wind will die down a bit this weekend and I'll get a chance to do a speed workout.

Baby Steps

This week's TIART topic at the Runner's Lounge is strength training,

Pre-kids, I used to work out at the office gym 4 or 5 times a week. At least two of those days, I did strength training for about 45 minutes. I still preferred cardio, but I did my weights and saw some nice muscle definition.

Fast forward 8 years and 2 kids and the abs ain't what they used to be. My legs are strong from all the running and my arms are strong from toting around a three year old, but muscle definition is seriously lacking. Add in age related metabolism slow down and it's not a pretty sight.

One of my goals for the year was to start doing strength training. Since I always put it off when it involved even a 15 minute commitment, I decided I'd do 5 minutes a day, alternating upper, lower, and abs. After a run or while the kids are in the bath, I set my timer and work the designated body part for 5 minutes. I have weights stashed on every level of the house and various ripped out magazine pages with weight routines sitting in convenient spots. Today I even plopped down on the carpet in our front hallway and did crunches for 5 minutes before I picked up Jones for school.

And it's working! I'm not going to be winning any body building contests, but my legs are stronger, I can see definition in my shoulders, and my abs are firmer. And the best part is that seeing what doing that little bit has done for my body is making me want to do more.

I've always felt like I had to do a "real" workout to see results and since I didn't have time for that, I never bothered. Well, I was wrong. The five minutes a day is making a difference. Maybe not as big of a difference or as fast of a difference, but a difference nonetheless. So I'll continue to squeeze in my strength training each day and maybe some day I'll be bikini ready again (not likely LOL!)

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Beer Collection

Also known as the view from my treadmill...

The holiday beer collection - currently 15 6 packs
and a number of individual bottles.

Beers we are aging

Beer Geek's beer glass collection
(and yes, that is my treadmill right next to it.)

Apparently Beer IS good food!

I just totally rocked my 13 mile run - 2:04:30! That's a 9:35 pace, people! I even did negative splits with the second half of the run being about 40 seconds faster than the first half. I did 13.1 in 2:05:24 and finished my 13.25 miles in a total of 2:07:10.

My first mile was the slowest at 10:17 but that had more to do with traffic lights than anything else. I had two miles around 9:10 in the last part of the run and my other slow miles were around 9:46 (with a bit of everything in between). I set garmin on auto lap and just ran comfortably. I had some fast miles early on and was a bit afraid of that coming back to bite me in the end, but surprisingly it didn't. My mile times fluctuated wildly depending on hills, wind, and traffic lights.

I don't expect to break the 2 hour point in Delaware in March, but I may be close. Woot!

Good thing we're planning dinner at a brewpub the night before the race.

I don't know that I can fill Jess' shoes with drunken posting, but I'll definitely be talking more about beer in the upcoming months. We have a lot of beer related stuff going on, so there will be plenty to talk about. (Not to mention that now that I have Glaven's attention, I must continue to entice him)

All beer, no running

Tomorrow I'm planning to do a long run again - 13 miles hopefully. To prepare myself for the run, I took the day off from running and made sure to eat plenty of carbs. I've fueled myself with Girl Scout cookies, sea bass with spaetzle, creme brulee, and beer.

Beer Geek and I went out to the Liberty Tavern for dinner tonight. Dinner was YUM! and they had a small but very good beer selection. We started out the meal with a shared New Holland's Dragon Milk (with 9% alcohol, sharing is best) and then I had a Kasteel Rouge for my second beer. Back in the days before strict airline regulations, I carried a backpack full of Kasteel back from Belgium. It was so heavy that every time I stood up, it slowly pulled me over backwards. I'm quite thankful that I can now get it locally.

The boys and I went to a couple of local stores today and began putting together our "beer basket" for the auction. I've decided to include only regional beers (VA, MD, PA, and DE to be exact) and am attempting to make sure there is no duplication of style. To that end, we are planning a trip to the Blue and Gray brewery next weekend and to three Charlottesville area breweries the weekend after that. Yeah, I'm willing to sacrifice like that.

Guess we'll see tomorrow if the theory that beer is good fuel is accurate or not.

(Any typos are in your imagination and are not at all related to the beers I"ve drunk).

FFFK

In honor of Non-runner Nancy, USJogger organized a Freakishly Flexible 5K to be run on or around Valentines Day. Since Nancy has done so much for us running bloggers, including hosting the very first virtual run I ran in, I decided to participate and let her know how much she's appreciated. I was planning to take it easy, but apparently I fueled myself well last night, so I ran it in 26:39 (8:39, 8:40, 8:31, 0:49) which is not my fastest 5K ever, but is pretty darn close. I then finished up with .9 miles at a 10 minute pace to get in my 4 that I needed to do.

All in all it's been a great weekend so far. After a nice dinner out last night, which included a Scotch Ale and a cask-conditioned Brown at Rock Bottom Brewery, we took the boys to the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum. Like most museums in the DC area, the museum itself was free. Unlike many in the area, you can't get there on public transportation, so we had to drive and they charge for parking. Oh well, it's still an awesome museum. The boys loved looking at all the planes, spacecraft and hot air balloon related exhibits. Shoo was particularly excited to see the Space Shuttle as he's very into "face" these days.

Jones, on the otherhand, was most impressed with the mailbox painted to look like R2 D2.

Tonight will be a quiet night in, but tomorrow we have a babysitter! Woot! Date night for mommy and daddy, which doesn't happen nearly enough around here.

Happy Friday the 13th!

We don't celebrate Valentines Day here. Beer Geek is not a fan of shopping and I'm not a fan of cards and neither of us is big on made up holidays. We barely celebrate our anniversary most years, so it was quite easy to drop V Day off our list of celebrations.

Now, Friday the 13th, well that's an entirely different matter. Almost 15 years ago, on a Friday the 13th, Beer Geek and I went on our first "date". Even after that many years and two kids and all the craziness that is our life these days, he still rocks my world. Now THAT's something worth celebrating! So tonight, we'll take our boys and head to Rock Bottom Brewery and celebrate with make your own pizza (for the boys) and yummy beer (for the adults).

I ran on the treadmill today. I was just done with all the wind around here. I attempted some half mile repeats with quarter mile breaks. I did the first two in 4 minutes and a third one in 4:30. I wanted to do another one, but just didn't have it in me, so I just ran a few more miles for a total of 5.8 miles (52:50) . Tomorrow I'll do a quick four miler for the FFFK (so I hit 20 miles for the week) and then I'll make another attempt at a long run on Monday morning.

Stimulating the economy

So far this week, I've bought new shoes, new bras, new pajamas and sweatshirts for the kids, and made a huge trip to Costco. I thought I was done this afternoon, but now I have one more purchase to make. Why? 'cause I ripped the a$$ out of my running capris. Unlike my lovely black eye (which I am oh so tired of BTW), no pain was involved, but it was a bit of a PITA. I sat down on our wooden stairs to put on my running shoes and when I stood up, my pants got caught on a nail and RIP! Since I didn't think the entire neighborhood needed to see my undies, I had to run in yoga capris today.

I told Beer Geek about Glavey's complaint that the beer picture was below the shoes. His comment? "Well, you do love shoes more than beer..." Guess there's a reason the man calls me his Little Imelda. Speaking of beer, we've decided to donate a "basket of seasonal beers" and a beer tasting dinner (including a vertical tasting of the Alaskan Smoked Porter) to Jones' school auction. I just have to figure out a value and description. Hopefully there are some parents at his school who appreciate good beer...

I had an awesome run today. Four miles at just under a 9 minute pace. Oddly, I didn't feel like I was working very hard. Why can't I have a run like that when I have time to do more miles? It was so windy that I actually got blown off the sidewalk at one point. When I got home from my run, Shoo made sure to tell me that he and daddy fixed the nail. LOL

Wordless Wednesday: a few of my favorite things

The long run that wasn't

You know your run isn't going to go well when you are already counting tenths of a mile by the time you hit a mile and a half. I set out in gorgeous weather this morning for a planned 13 mile run. I was going to take it nice and slow at a 10 minutes/mile pace. Mile one didn't feel so great, but I figured I'd settle in by the end of mile two. Not so much. Instead of having to try to hold myself back, I found myself barely able to keep a 10 minute pace. My legs felt like lead and I was struggling for breath. I told myself I had to do at least 5 miles. Around mile 5, I ate some "energies" (what Jones and Shoo call Sharkies). I'd been drinking water and gatorade for a while already, but I was hoping that I'd get a boost. At the end of mile 6, I headed towards home, figuring I had about three quarters of a mile to my house and I'd just do that and call it a day. When I realized I wasn't even managing a 12 minute mile, I stopped - at the very random 6.16 miles. I never quit running at a weird number like that, so I think that speaks to how wiped out I was.

I'm not sure exactly what the problem was. Probably some combination of not enough fuel (breakfast at 7, didn't run until 10), too much speedwork lately, soccer with the boys, etc. It's funny how last week I was like "I can so finish a half in under 10 minute miles" and today I was like "OMG, I'm going to DNF in a month".

To make myself feel better, I decided to do my part to stimulate the economy. I had a gift certificate to Macy's, so I headed there to start. I found a really cute pair of round toe patent leather pumps that I couldn't resist. Then I headed to Victoria's to well, let's just say I'm tired of wearing stretched out nursing bras LOL. The girls are now back up where they belong. ;o) Then, because I'm a bit addicted, I had to stop by the Bandolino store. Two pairs of shoes later... Yeah, it was a good shopping trip.

Jones insisted on another soccer game this afternoon. I could definitely tell I was not feeling as good as yesterday. I did a whole lot less racing across the yard and a lot more waiting for him to get close enough to steal the ball from him.

Oh, well, at least the half marathon is still a month away. I should still be able to manage one 13 miler and one 14 miler beforehand.

Reason #543,203 that I run

Jones has developed a bit of an addiction to the Nintendo DS. We have specific rules about when he may or may not play, but are having some issues with how long he's allowed to play. Today it was really nice outside again, so Shoo and I walked and picked him up from school. After we all walked home, Jones did his homework and then asked for his DS. Usually I let him because I'm either about to head out running or trying to start dinner or both. Today I suggested we all go out and play soccer in the front yard.

OH.MY.GOODNESS! The kid can run (and he's better with the ball than I am, sigh). I spent the next half hour + racing around our front yard. Thank goodness for all the running I do. I was able to keep up with him, although he can definitely turn on a dime and I found myself having to sprint to catch him again. I wasn't planning to run today as I did a fitness class with Shoo, but I think this counted as interval training LOL.

In totally unrelated news, my eye looks even worse. It looks like I got in a bar brawl and lost. Even better, when Shoo and I were grocery shopping (and getting plenty of stares LOL), I ran into one of my high school crushes. Gotta love running into a guy you used to think was the cutest thing EVER and sporting a lovely black eye. LOL

My interview

No run today. I'm still coughing a lot. Instead, I spent my day going to church, attending an appreciation luncheon for volunteering with a mom's group, and playing with Shoo at THREE! different playgrounds. All in all, a fun day and a good way to use the beautiful spring weather.

When I decided to ask Jess to interview me, I didn't think about the fact that she's a professor and likely to ask questions that would really make me think. :o)

1. What is the greatest challenge about being a stay-at-home-mom?
For me, the greatest challenge is maintaining a presence in the "adult world". Spending time with my kids, running, and sleeping take up the largest portions of my time. When you add in the time it takes for cleaning, shopping, laundry,volunteering for a moms group and at the kids' schools, etc, very little time is left in the day. I try to at least read the headlines most days and I have a list of books I'm slowly working my way through, but some weeks (like the last when at least two people in the house were sick at any given time) I'm lucky if I get a chance to check the weather channel. And, quite frankly, when I'm tired and it's the end of the day, I'm more likely to read blogs or some fitness magazine than real news. It's getting better as the kids get older, but it's a bit disconcerting for me to always be behind on what's going on in the world (especially since I spent a large part of my working career as a reference librarian).

2. In terms of running, what's your favorite race experience?
My favorite race experience is the annual Turkey Trot 5K in my neighborhood. It's a very competitive race, as lots of people come from outside the neighborhood, but it's also very much a neighborhood event. It starts at a local church, runs past my house, loops through the neighborhood and ends at a local park. I get to wave at my family as I run past and then when I'm done, I get to cheer on all of our friends who do it as a walk. I love that it combines my love of running with a very social event and happens to help two groups I'd support anyways: a local homeless shelter and a home for women and children escaping abusive situations. Win-win all around.

3. If you were to select a beer that best describes your character, what would it be and why?
I'd like to think I'm a lot like my favorite beer - the Alaskan Smoked Porter. It's a sweet yet strong beer with lots of hidden undertones that continues to improve with aging. ;o)

4. What's the best part about living in Washington, DC?
The best part of living near DC is the diversity of activities, opportunities, and people. Jones' school has kids from 30+ different countries. On a daily basis, we interact with people from different cultures and different religions. Within metro or driving distance, it is possible to find just about any activity you could possibly want to do. Museums are mostly free, thanks to the Smithsonian. You can't go more than a couple of miles without running into a memorial to something. We are lucky enough to live in a neighborhood that is much like a small town in that we know our neighbors and can walk to restaurants, grocery stores, parks, schools, etc, yet we can get to cultural activities (Monster Jam? LOL) with only a bit more effort. Really, the only negatives to living here are the traffic, the cost of housing and the fact that most of our extended family does not live here.

5. If you could teach your children only one lesson in life, what would it be?

None of these were easy questions, but this is by far the hardest. There are so many things I want to teach my children and so many ways in which I hope to help them become valuable members of society. I think one of the most important things I'd like to teach them is to appreciate what they have, rather than constantly wishing for things they don't. I want them to work hard and pursue goals, but not to get so wrapped up in the goal, that they don't appreciate the process. For example, if one of them ends up as a runner, I wouldn't want them to get so fixated on qualifying for Boston, that they no longer appreciated the strength of their body and what accomplishments they made along the way. Or if one of them wants to become a lawyer or move up the corporate ladder, I wouldn't want them to work so hard that they miss out on family, friends, and activities that make their heart sing.

To play along:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

7 on the 7th times 3

I originally planned for last Sundays 12K to be my "7 on the 7th" and was quite pleased with my 1:03:15 time.

Then I ran 12 miles on Tuesday and figured I should count that 7 since it was closer to the 7th, but my time was closer to 1:08.

But, oh my goodness, it was GORGEOUS today! I couldn't resist going for a long run and decided to turn my tempo run into a 7 mile run. I ran a warm up mile a little too fast and then did 3.5 miles at an 8:45 pace. Like any good tempo, miles 5 and 6, which were not meant to be at tempo, were my "I think I'm going to puke" miles and were much slower. I got things back together for mile 7 and ended up finishing 7 miles in 1:03:05. Woot! I'm pretty sure that's a personal best for that distance.

I'm not sure I should have pushed myself quite so hard though. I'm not completely over the cold and now I'm coughing like a pack a day smoker. Add the nice shiner I got while playing with the boys in the front yard and I'm only a baby in nothing but a diaper away from a stereotype. (Apparently when the toy says adult supervision required, they mean the adult should supervise, not actually use the toy. )

Thanks to Run to Finish for hosting a race on such a beautiful day!

Grumble Grumble

My favorite race of the year is a local 10K. I can walk to it, it's a reasonable distance, it's a challenging course, and it's easy for Beer Geek and the boys to see me at the finish line. Win, win all around.

I just got an email today that advertised this year's race. Same weekend, same location, but it's a half marathon this year. Huh? OK, I can run a half marathon (no, really, I can LOL), but now I have back to back halfs in May. Or I would if I hadn't decided today to find out about transferring my Marine Corps Historic Half bib or saving it for next year. Life gets crazy in the spring with soccer and school stuff and neighborhood stuff and our anniversary, etc. so I just am not feeling the love of two half marathons. I only signed up for the MC one because at the time it was the only May half "near" my house (it's about an hour away).

I'm feeling much better today. *Knock wood* I appear not to have gotten the nasty version of the cold that Beer Geek got. I ran an easy three on the treadmill (28:15). I wanted to go outside, but was afraid the windy 22 degree weather might be more than my slightly irritated lungs could handle. This weekend is supposed to be in the mid 50s, so I intend to get some nice outside runs done.

House of sick

It all started with Jones last week. Now he's feeling great and full of energy. Shoo is snotty, but generally himself. Beer Geek is totally down for the count and I'm losing the battle. It's a drippy, sneezy kind of cold, so my poor nose is rubbed raw. I've been going to bed super early and I've been using Zicam since the first hint of it (usually zicam keeps me from getting a cold at all), but so far I'm still on the "getting worse" side of things. Not sure how that's going to affect my plan to run tomorrow...

Yesterday I ran a snotty 12 miles. I took a little children's sudafed before the run so I wouldn't have to constantly wipe my nose and that seemed to help. I managed to finish in 1:58:15, which is pretty good considering I raced on Sunday and have a cold.

I see a certain someone is back and insulting people again. That's great 'cause it gives me the chance to say "heh, heh, I'm doing something cool and beer related." I just bought tickets to Savor - which is quite possibly the best beer and food event I've ever been to. Now I just have to convince my mom to visit that weekend to babysit the kids.

Speaking of parents, a challenge has been issued. My father reminded me last night that I've never beaten him in a race. He also informed me that he's already raced in three states (Louisiana, New Mexico, and Virgnia), so he's ahead of me in the pursuit of a race in all 5o states (he's saying he's going to hit all 50 by age 70, so that gives him 9 years). All I can say is "bring it on. I'll tie your state count when I run Delaware and you'd better be prepared to run fast in Florida." (Why do I get the feeling I'll be eating these words? LOL)

12K race report

Short story: 12K in 1:08:20ish (I'm not exactly sure of my time as I forgot to hit stop on the Garmin, the official results are not up, and it was not chip-timed).

Anyways, I got up this morning and had my usual pre-long run breakfast of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some coffee. It was about 33 degrees out, so I bundled in a long sleeve technical tee and a fleece half zip with gloves and a fleece cap. At the last minute, I threw a lighter weight half zip into my bag and grabbed a baseball cap. Beer Geek and the boys decided to go with me, so we bundled them up for playtime on the ice while I ran.

It was a small race, but well organized. The weather was sunny and the temps started to rise. I quickly decided a clothing change was in order and changed into the lighter weight jacket and the baseball cap. Beer Geek snapped a quick picture and then I headed for the start line. Moments before the start, I tossed him my gloves.


The race started with a short out and back and then another longer out and back. The second was pretty darn hilly! The beauty of running in my own 'hood was that I've run most of the hills, but I still found the hills in mile 6 to be exhausting. I kept reminding myself "been there, run that" and for longer periods of time. I'd never tried to maintain this particular pace for this long before though. I went out with a goal of finishing under 1:10:00, which is a 9:23 pace. My mile splits ended up being 9:01,8:59, 9:06, 9:00, 9:02, 9:09, 8:58. I'm not sure of the half mile because I had a bit of an issue at the finish line and forgot to hit stop on my Garmin.

The issue? Mud...

At the end, we had to negotiate down a slippery, muddy hill. I had the added obstacle of a family walking down with a stroller. Then you had to make a tight right turn and run to the finish. I stopped running at the bottom of the hill because I didn't know where the finish was. I did get directed there, but I was just a little confused at the end LOL.

The best part of the race? I got to meet tfh (apologies for not spending much time talking at the end. I was just wiped out and starving.)
I really enjoyed this race and think it was a fun length. I left everything I had on the trail, though. I've never run that long before with nothing but water nor have I tried to maintain a 9 minute pace for that long. I think I'll run it again next year, but take my fuel belt with gatorade in it. I also found out the difference between running 12K and racing 12K - I was exhausted and starving all day, way out of proportion to the actual distance of the run. All in all, I was pleased with my performance, but I do have a ways to go before I can keep that speed up for a half marathon.

Jones and Shoo had a blast playing on the ice while I was out running. I love that they are getting old enough to come watch mommy race!